Fly-tipping CCTV camera numbers expanded

Six new CCTV cameras aiming to capture fly-tippers have been installed in and around a Berkshire town.

Slough Borough Council said they were an addition to the three already in place and that they could be transferred to hotspots as needed.

The local authority said footage from its campaign to catch and fine fly-tippers, which started a year ago with CCTV and ANPR cameras at a clothing recycling bank and a service road, had proven "invaluable".

On 15 July, the government announced the maximum fine for waste criminals would increase by 400%, increasing it to £5,000 from the previous level of £1,000.

Among the tracked down fly-tippers are residents "who think a litter bin or bin area is the place for their old mattress" to organised companies "taking money from unsuspecting customers and then systematically dumping in the town".

In May CCTV caught two men "dumping bags of present wrappings, left-over food and other rubbish by the litter bins" on the Cinder Track.

The council previously warned that leaving anything outside a bin was fly-tipping, including charity clothing banks.

Lead member for public protection Zafar Satti said there was "still a minority of people who continue to dump their rubbish and expect their neighbours to foot the bill for the clean-up through their council tax".

"The tip in Chalvey is free for nearly all domestic waste and there are multiple licenced waste carriers in the town who will properly remove rubbish for a fee," he said.

"There is no excuse for dumping your rubbish – not that it is by a bin, not that there was too much to get in your normal household bins, not that you don't have access to a car."

The government said that as part of a major crackdown on waste crime, the top fine for littering on streets would also be increased to £750.

Slough Borough Council said the three household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) available to the town residents are Chalvey on White Hart Road, Burnham on Crowpiece Lane and Langley on Langley Park Road.